Anglo-Scottish Sleepers by David Meara

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. It's worth making an
exception for "Anglo-Scottish Sleepers" by David Meara. The highly
attractive cover, based on a 1985 British Rail poster advertising
Saver Fares on Intercity Sleepers, wraps around a superb book. It
has to be said that this is a fairly specialist subject that it would
have been all too easy to approach in a way that made it of interest
only to and accessible only by enthusiasts. Instead the author should
be congratulated on writing a book that brings his subject to life
in an engaging and interesting way. The format certainly helps. The
nicely-written text is illustrated by a large number of very varied
images. Yes, there are photographs of trains, both black & white and
colour, but there are also railway advertising posters; plans of early
sleeper carriages; timetables; onboard photographs; maps of services;
cutaways; and more.

After a brief preface, the book divides into five chapters. The first
recounts the experience of using the Anglo-Scottish Sleepers. The
second discusses the history of the service, beginning 150 years ago
in an era when passengers were advised to bring their own bedding
to use on night trains. The steady improvement in facilities and comfort
over the period since is charted, especially with the introduction
of specialised sleeping carriages in the 1870s and 1880s. The story
of the 1900s was one of fluctuating fortunes, while the modern era
sees the surviving services looking optimistically towards a period
of modernisation and expansion.

The story of the Motorail era is then recounted, from trains designed
to transport horses and carriages through to the widespread use and
carriage by train of the motor car in the 1930s and the eventual demise
of the last Motorail service in 1997. The Scottish portions of the
three surviving sleeper routes, from London to
Fort William,Inverness
and Aberdeen, are then
described, both geographically and historically.
The final chapter is entitled "'Anything is Possible on a Train':
Stories from the Sleepers", and recounts a series of encounters and
adventures on sleepers, told by passengers, attendants, drivers and
operational staff.

All in all this is a lovely book that will certainly appeal to enthusiasts,
but also seems likely to appeal to anyone who's ever travelled on
a sleeper service, or thought it might be nice to do so.